January 2017

Resolutions and Accomplishments

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a New Year’s resolution. We could all do with a little bit of self improvement or strive to commit more unselfish deeds (I’m talking to you fellow millennials… look up from your iPhones and help that elderly woman with her groceries!) But while we focus on betterment, we could also look at our personal accomplishments over the past year, as well as those in our community, specifically in arts and culture. If the record number of participants in our annual Best of Thunder Bay survey are any indication, we have lots to celebrate. With the amount of artists and businesses flourishing in our city, many of the categories were very close calls. Every year, part of our challenge to readers is to check out those unfamiliar names or categories with the goal of completing more questions for next year’s survey. Make it part of your resolution to immerse yourself in Thunder Bay’s arts and culture scene: go eat at a new restaurant, listen to a local band, or discover a swimming hole… maybe wait until summer for that one.

Keeping with our “best of” theme, we profile some winners who you might not be familiar with. Our sommelier Jeannie Dubois highlights some of the year’s best local offerings in beer and spirits, Michael Sobota shares his favourite films of 2016, and we showcase some great concerts that you might have missed over the year. Also, Stuff We Like features ideas for the New Year’s resolutionist.

Elsewhere in the issue, Betty Carpick gets the scoop on Thunder Bay’s long-awaited Mexican restaurant El Tres, Stephanie Wesley previews Magnus Theatre’s upcoming production Crees in the Caribbean, and Tonya Muchano writes about the history of Definitely Superior Art Gallery’s annual fashion odyssey, Derelicte, taking place later this month.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our readers’ survey and congratulations to all of the winners!